Key studies –

1. in partnership with: Volunteer Rates by Age Group, 1974-2010: Introduction: Research Methodology: The mission of the Brandell Volunteer Center is to provide students the opportunity to serve their community, enhance their educational experiences and develop into caring citizens. This mission is very similar to one of the guiding principles of Learn and Serve America: ensuring that programs improve the lives of every participant, building academic, civic, and character excellence –that participants develop a lifelong commitment to public service. • A pilot evaluation – • Sample: distribution to 5,000 Center alumni. • Survey: online, available the beginning of summer. • Size: a larger pool of subjects can participate (the alumni association only has 243 members) online surveys allow for more data to be collected and analyzed much quicker. • Stakeholders: Center alumni board assisting with survey. • Reducing bias – • Pre-testing technological variation, unclear instructions. • A longitudinal approach, testing the survey into the future. • Matching subgroups to measure rates over time. Problem: Nurturing a Commitment to Lifelong Service Jefrey Walls, Clemson University, Youth Development Leadership Program Literature Review: Is the Brandell Volunteer Center engaging participants so that they develop a lifelong commitment to public service? No data exists from the Center that shows what students are doing post-graduation. Without such data how does the center justify participants developing a lifelong commitment to public service? • Key studies – • Corporation for National and Community Service, annual report on volunteering in America, 2002 – Present. • Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS), the only nationally representative longitudinal study on volunteering, 2011-Present. • Urban Institute, first national study on volunteer management, 2004. • Findings include – • Four in five charities are ready to take on more volunteers. • Many struggle with finding sufficient number of volunteers. • Volunteering by college students increased by 20 percent between 2002 and 2005, doubling the adult growth rate. • Trend lines have remained similar the last ~40 years. • Overall only 63.5 percent who served in 2009 returned in 2010. • What works – • Enriching the volunteer experience—recognition, training and professional development opportunities, and matching volunteers’ skills to their service tasks. Guiding Questions: Whether or not the Brandell Volunteer Center motivates its participants to continue service, and for how long? The reasons behind a commitment to service or lack thereof? Does the experiences the Brandell Volunteer Center offers match post participation experiences in communities served by alumni? Purpose: To understand the impact of participation in the Brandell Volunteer Center programs on lifelong commitment to service. To better understand the nature and extent of public service engaged in by Center alumni. Volunteer Rate by Hours Worked per Week: College v. Adult Description of Subjects: Brandell Volunteer Center alumni, post graduation. Matching national measurements on volunteerism, this includes individuals age 16 and up who volunteered for as little as an hour a semester, participated in an alternative spring break or volunteered full time in the Center. Implications:  Connect alumni with better volunteer opportunities  Foster partnerships  Secure funding and support Raise greater awareness of Brandell Volunteer Center alumni